The WiLDHEARTS play their first ever show in NYC!

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The WiLDHEARTS

CARDIACS

The KOWALSKIS

On a recent academic trip to New York, Kitty Kowalski took me out to see the Wildhearts at the Tribeca Rock Club, their first ever New York gig. Not satisfied with what would be a perfectly adequate UK venue – a bar, a stage, and some crowd space with the walls painted black – and unable to tolerate the support band, she took me on a pre-gig detour to an artist friend’s party. On our way to the party, which was held in a one-room apartment painted in primary colours with floor to ceiling (and that’s including the ceiling) art and sculpture, we passed Ground Zero, as well as lots of families carrying grocery bags through what was once a much livelier financial district.

Back at the Tribeca Rock Club, we slithered through the dense crowd to the front of the stage, just in time for the Wildhearts. Interestingly, they weren’t the last band on despite being billed as the headliners, which I think caused the band management some irritation. Someone asked me whether I was a magazine photographer, and somehow noticed my British accent in my short response and over the music. He had never heard of the Wildhearts before and was in genuine awe of their musical tightness and speed, and told me that he was sure they’d be as big in America as I described them to be in the UK.

It was pretty strange to see the Wildhearts playing in a tiny venue, as excited as they would have been at their first real gig, but confident now, and gripping a crowd to whom they were largely unknown before tonight.

Jon Poole smiles more on stage with the Wildhearts than he does as a Cardiac. They’re all smiling, though, and they do what their American fans would want and expect tonight, by meeting and signing autographs for them outside the venue. Afterwards, Kitty even manages to abduct CJ to show him a bit more of New York (Ginger needs more beauty sleep, maybe), and we take him to Manitoba’s bar where he meets Little Steven and then stands at the jukebox recovering from the frightening taxi ride, before he’s gathered up and taken away by the all-seeing tour manager.

The Wildhearts’ set wasn’t made up of their most obvious or hit songs. Instead, they played some of my favourite songs including ‘Caprice’, and although they were faster than ever, the industrial sound has gone since the last time I saw them, which was on the Endless Nameless tour. I think this is the best time I’ve ever seen the Wildhearts, and that must have something to do with their obvious desire to show just what it feels like to play in New York City for the first time.

Jenni Ramone

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